- Peter Collier
Peter Collier is an
Australia n politician. He has been a Liberal member of theWestern Australian Legislative Council since2005 , representing the North Metropolitan region. He is currently the Minister for Energy and Training, having being sworn in on the 23 September 2008.Previous positions held by Collier:
*Shadow Spokesperson for Communication; Science: 22 May 2005 - 26 September 2005.
*Shadow Spokesperson for Science: 26 September 2005 - 4 February 2006.
*Shadow spokesperson for Heritage; Training and Higher Education; *Works and Services: 4 February 2006- 8 April 2006.
*Shadow Minister for Education: 8 April 2006 - 23 September 2008He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Legislation from 26 May 2005 onwards.Teaching and early career
Collier Studied at the
University of Western Australia form 1977-1980, achieving a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science & History) and a Diploma in Teaching.Before entering parliament, Collier was a school teacher at Scotch College from 1990 until 2005. He was Headmaster for Ross House and Head of Department for Political & Legal Studies & History. Before Scotch College he was also a teacher at the
Presbyterian Ladies' College, Perth from 1987-1988. He also taught at Lesmurdie Senior High School from 1985 to 1986 and John Curtin Senior High School from 1981 to 1983.Politics
In 2005 Collier was accused of forging signatures on membership forms and using people's names without their consent in order to gain party pre-selection in the lead-up to the 2001 election. [cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/content/2005/s1363242.htm|title=WA's strife-torn Liberal Party (transcript)|work=StateLine Western Australia|date=06/05/2005|accessdate=2008-09-15] After an investigation by Western Australian police, charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. [cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2005/05/10/1364546.htm|work=ABC News|title=Call for MP Collier to speak to police over forgery claims|date=May 10, 2005|accessdate=2008-09-15] He denied the allegations.
He succeeded in defeating incumbent member
Alan Cadby in a pre-selection battle in early 2004. Upon being informed that he would no longer have party support to contest a winnable position, Cadby promptly quit the party to become an independent. Collier went on to win the North Metropolitan region seat in 2005.Collier is perhaps most well known for inadvertently helping the Gallop Labor government pass its
one vote one value electoral reform legislation in 2007, which had been stalled in an evenly divided Legislative Council for some years. The government needed only one vote to pass the bill, and ultimately received it when Collier supported the government in passing its reforms, to the chagrin of the Liberal Party.Collier is a constitutional
monarchist and argued for the retention of theoath of allegiance to the Queen for members of parliament. He is currently the Senior Vice Chairman of the Western Australian branch ofAustralians for Constitutional Monarchy .He is the current State
Patron of theWestern Australian Young Liberals , and was made a life member in 2006 for his services to the Young liberal Movement of Western Australia.Private interests
He has been a Professional Coach for Peppermint Grove Tennis Club from 1986-2000 and was tour coach for (Jenny Byrne/Dinky Van Rensburg/Joanne Faull) in 1989-1990.Fact|date=September 2008 He won the Western Australian Tennis Coach of the Year Award in 1990-1992.Fact|date=September 2008 Collier is the
Patron of theShenton Park Dogs Home.References
External links
* [http://www.petercollier.com.au Official site]
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